Means for distilling liquids



vMay 8, 1945. R. c. FORD 2,375,640

MEANS FOR DISTILLING LIQUIDS Filed oct. 13, 1943 4 sheets-sheet 1 @wwwMay 8, 1945. R, C, FQRD v 2,375,640

` MEANS FOR DISTILLING -LIQUIDS' Filed Oct. 13, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2May 8, l945- R. c. FORD MEANS FOR DISTILLING LIQUIDS Filed oct. 13, 194s4 sheets-sheet 5 Fllllll FII lill( 1|.. IIHU .Al l.. -La .rlll llllllllnMay 8, 1945 R. c. FORD l MEANS FOR DISTILLING LIQUIDS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Oct. 15, 1945 c. SLNL Thisinvention` relates the'` separationof al' lliquid from nonfvolatilejfimpurities byidistillation and hasfor itsimme'diateobjectto provide` izontal stationary plate-V21 whichis'upwardly an improved method lof lobtaining pure drinking water fromsea water andiot'her liquids not suitable for human orw animalconsumption.

A further objectof the invention is toprovide apparatus for this purposeof a simple, compact and portable naturein which the use of fuel forheating purposes is entirely dispensedl with.

The improved methodv of distilling liquids'.l is

4distinguished from` 'existing methods in that the heat required forevaporation is derived from compression ofa mixtureof air and steam orvapour drawn from an enclosed container forthe liquid, said mixturebeing forced under the compression pressure through lone or more narrowconduits arranged in close proximity to one or more thin lms of the saidliquid, and thence to f a condenser.

The invention involves the use of acompressor which is of themulti-stage type and either mechanically or hydraulically.

In the accompanying drawings, y

Figunre 1 is a sectional view of one form of apparatus embodying thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with top cover removed.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on a larger l scale of one of thehigh pressure cylinders.

`driven 'fMEANSFOeDISTHmG l j *Reginald oiapeiicerora,Auesley,hearvehfy,jf l England 4 y. -l j i Application october 13,1943, serialNo. 506,091l* `In GreatBrltain July 9', 1942 f fzciaims'p-i-(cl-2o2p-163) The highpressure eylinders, of whichthere may be any vdesired number, arecarried bya'ho `flanged to form a container 28 for the liquiditaz 1 bedistilled.' The plungers 29 for the high. pres-- sure cylinders arecarried by and 'move with the' i low pressure cylinder l1 and are fittedwith fnonf return valves 3Ilat their inner ends. y n c Each of thehighpressure cylinders is made in two parts, aninner part 3l which issecured to the plate 21 by means of a nut 3 la', and an outer part 32screwing onto the upper end of the `inner part. `The said outer part,which forms'the head vof thecylinder, is fdrmed with a passage 33lcontrolled by a non-return va1v`e`34, one e'nd of said passage beingopenvto the interior of the cylin; der 26 and the other endcommunicating with a narrow spiral passage 35 in the cylinder wall. Y

This spiral passage, see Figure 4, may be conveniently formed by takingoil the crests of the thread between the innerv and outer parts 3|, 32and communicatesA at it`s lower end with a duct 36 in the plate. 21,whence it is continued by i means of a pipe 31 opening at its-lower endinto'` i acondenser 39. n i

The outer part 32 of each high pressure cylinder is tted with aremovable sleeve 4I) which Figure A4 is a detail view in verticalsection and on a larger scale of part of one of the high pressurecylinders. l

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 1 in which f theA two'stagecompressor is, driven by hydraulic 'l .operated by means of a rotatablemember I9 aris a sliding t on shallow longitudinal ribs 4I, see 1 vFigure 3, formed on said outer.part.1V The narrow annular `space thusformed between the sleeve and the outer part of thecylinder is open ateach end, the lower Yend. dipping below the V 'level of the vliquid inthe container. 'Ihe said i container 28 is closed in a fluidf-tightmanner by ranger concentrically therewith and provided l y manually. Thesaid cylinder maybe prevented from rotation by means of rollers 24 onthe frplunger engaging grooves ,25'V in the cylinder.

means of a removabl'ercover 42 having double walls with laggingv betweenthem, said cover being secured in position on a rubber seating 43carried by a shouldered part/of the plate 21, by means of springs 44secured` to an annular member 45 of angle section, and adapted to engageprojections 46 on the cover.` Communication be` tween the closedcontainer and the low pressure cylinder l1 is established by ,means of apipe 41,

controlled by a non-return valve 48 in the head of the plunger.

The rotatable memberl I9 actuating the low pressure cylinder is mountedon ball bearings be'- tween` the plate v21 aforesaid and a flange 49 atthe lowei part of the stationary plunger IB.,

The whole of the apparatus is enclosed .in an outer casing 50 the upper.part 5l of `which is secured to the plate 21 by releasable catches 52Vand is removable to give access'to the cover 42,

whilst the lower part houses the'vcondenser 39 which may be'of thetubular or any'other suit- K wheel.

able type and provided with a run-off tap 53 for the distilled water andan'outlet 54 for dry air.

The highpressure plungers 2,9 are automatically lubricated at eachcompression stroke of the low pressure cylinder I1. from a trough 55 inthe ilanged lowerend of the low pressure plunger I8,`the oil beingforced through a non-return valve 56 and conveyed by pipes 51 to eachhigh pressure cylinder. The excess oil iii draining back to the troughserves to lubricate the bearings for the rotatable driving member I9 andthe outer surface of the low pressure cylinder- I1.

The apparatus is operated by rotating the shaft 23 which may be doneeither by power or manually, as by means of pedal gear or hand When theapparatus commences to operate air is exhausted through the pipe 41 fromthe enclosed container 28 on the induction or upward stroke of the lowpressure cylinder I1 whence on the subsequent compression or downwardstroke the initially compressed air is forced into the high pressurecylinders 28 through the non-return valves 30 iii their plungers 29 bywhich it is further compressed on the following induction stroke of thelow pressure cylinder. From the high pressure cylinders the air isforced past 'the non-return valves 34 into the spiral passage 35 betweenthe screw threaded parts of each high pressure cylinder and thence tothe condenser 39. The heat generated by the high pressure produced inthis way quickly raises the temperature of the walls of the highpressure cylinders thereby causing evaporation of the thin lms of theliquid occupying the narrow annular spaces between the sleeves 40aforesaid and the outer parts 32 of the high pressure cylinders. At thesame time the exhaustion of air 'and vapour above the liquid reduces theboiling point of the latter. The vapour or steam produced escapes fromthe open upper ends of the narrow spaces between the sleeves III) andcylinders 25 into the closed container 28 whence it is exhausted andinitially compressed by the continued operation of the low pressurecylinder and further compressed in the high pressure cylinders afterwhich it passes by way of the spiral passages 35 and tubes 31 to thecondenser. This cycle of operations can be continued so long as theirremains any liquid in the container.

Another form of apparatus embodying the same main principle of theinvention is shown in Figure 5. In this form the low pressure cylinder'I1 is Operated by iluid pressure. Otherwise the construction andoperation of the apparatus is substantially the same as above describedwith reference to Figures 1 to 4.

For the purposes of operation by fluid pressure the lower end of the lowpressure cylinder I1 carries a cross-head 60, the sides of thestationary plunger I8 being slotted at the lower end to accommodate themovement thereof. The upper face of the cross-head carries or is formedwith a small centrally arranged cylinder 6I which cooperates with afixed plunger 62 secured to the underside of the head of the stationarylow pressure plunger I8 which is hollow. The lower face of thecross-head is also formed or fitted with a similar cylinder 63 whichco-operates with a plunger 64 fixed to the base member 65 supporting thelow pressure plunger. are alternately supplied with fluid under pressureto actuate the low pressure cylinder I1, by means of a pair of pumps 68,see Figures 6 and 7, which may be operated in any suitablel manner.Where the apparatus is required for use in a con- These cylinders finedspace, as for example, in a crowded life boat, the' said pumps may bearranged for manual operation. In this case each pumpk may be separatelyoperated through gearing by a lever and the gearing of one pumpinterconnected with that of the other so that the depression of onelever effects the return of the other. For example, in the arrangementshown in Figures 6 and motion in its cylinder 14 by the co-actionbetween its screw thread and the corresponding thread on thestationary-pump body 15. The extension 1I of each plunger is free toslide through its driving pinion 1D axial displacement of which isprevented in any suitable way.

To accommodate a pipe 16 leading from one of the pumps to the uppercylinder 6I on the cross-head and also the pipe 11 leading from theenclosed container 28 to the low pressure cylinder I1, the cross-head 60is formed with suitable openings 18, 19 respectively.

In an alternative construction which is otherwise the same as that shownin Figure 5, the low I pressure cylinder is stationary and the plungerthereof adapted for operation by fluid pressure, the upper face of thelatter is formed with a central circular recess which functions as acylinder for a xed plunger on the plate aforesaid. The lower face of thelow pressurev plunger` is in this casey provided with a small plunger'working in a cylinder forming part of or attached to the low pressurecylinder. 'I'he low pressure plunger is operated positively in eachdirection by means of a pair of pumps, one of which delivers liquidunder pressure into the bottom ofi the cylindrical recess in the upperface of the low pressure plunger for the induction stroke of the latter,whilst the other pump delivers fluid into the small cylinder in the caseof the low pressure cylinder for the return or compression stroke. 'I'hesaid pumps may be operated in sequence in a mannerl similar to thatabove described or in any other suitable way. For example, the two pumpsmay be arranged in axial alignment with each other with a singledouble-ended plunger co-operating therewith. This plunger may bereciprocated by forming it with right and left-hand screw threads andgiving it a movement of rotation or oscillation about its axis, thescrew threads co-operating with xedparts suitably screw-threadedinternally. Rotary or oscillatory movement may be imparted to theplunger by means of a pinion operated in any suitable manner by hand orpedal, or by power.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for distilling liquids comprising an enclosed4 containerfor the liquid to be distilled, a condenser, a compressor having a lowpressure cylinder and a plurality ofhigh pressure cylinders each ofwhich is in direct nonreturncommunication with said low .pressurecylinder, said low pressure cylinder having a non-return intakecommunicating with saidvcontainer above the level of the liquid thereinand each of said high pressure cylinders having a ing at one end withthe delivery side of said high pressure cylinder and at the other endwith said condenser, the bore of saidl passage being less than that ofthe intake to said high pressure cylinder, a sleeve surrounding eachhigh pressure cylinder with clearance so as to leave a narrow annularspace open at each end, one end of said space being below and the otherabove the level of the liquid in said container, and means for operatingsaid compressor.

2. Apparatus for distilling liquids comprising an enclosed container forthe liquid to be diS- tilled, a condenser, a compressor having a lowpressure cylinder and a plurality of high pressure cylinders protrudinginto said container through the liquid therein and each having directnon-return communication with said low pressure cylinder, said lowpressure cylinder having a nonreturn intake communicating with saidcontainer above the level of the liquid therein, said high pressurecylinders each having a szpiral passage in the wall thereofcommunicating at one end with the delivery side of such cylinder througha non-return valve and at the other end with said condenser, the bore ofsaid passage being less than that of the intake to said high pressurecylinder, means for maintaining a thin lm of said liquid around and incontact with the exterior of each high pressure cylinder, said filmsbeing open at their-upper ends to said con-` tainer, and means foroperating said compressor.

REGINALD CLARENCE FORD.

